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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Aibu to ask you how you got rid of adult acne?

169 replies

Troton · 14/12/2018 15:44

Specifically there’s a lady I know through a friend who has always had moderate acne the whole time I’ve known her. It’s cleared up lately and she looks radiant and im desperate to know her secret but I know it’s be so bloody rude of me!

So im going to ask on here instead - how did you get rid of adult acne?
I’ve just started my second round of roaccutane. I bailed on the first round and only did three months so sadly the effects didn’t last long. I’m hoping to stick it out this time but I’m only on a low dose and worried it’s not going to be a permenant cure. That said I’m reluctant to up the dose as I’m scared of the side effects.

OP posts:
olympicsrock · 16/12/2018 11:02

Roacutane worked for me when I had awful cystic acne over my jaw chest and back in my 20s. Complete miracle with a few weeks. Someone mentioned it higher up but CARMEX lip balm ( yellowtube/red lid) is the only lip balm that actually stopped my lips cracking and bleeding.
Beware if dianette - I was put on this as a teenager when I wanted the pill ( and had very mild acne) - when I stopped it 4 years later it caused the acne mentioned above and male pattern baldness.

I had a second bout of acne a few years after roaccutane. I saw a beautician who specialises in adult skin conditions and she advised the Guinot desensitising range . Very gentle products that take the sting out of your skin, moisturise and stop the dry/ oily cycle, zinc based concealer that treats and conceals at the same time and Guinot ‘hydrodermie facials where they put gels on your face and pass a current through and kill bacteria/ and do a few extractions at the same time. They were about £60 a time and this was a few years ago but very very effective even with my jaw cysts. Highly recommend if you can afford.

legolimb · 16/12/2018 12:31

Pookie that's not fair.

The dermatologist I saw on the NHS was quite happy to prescribe the spiro on the basis that Dianette worked like a dream for me. It works in a similar manner re the androgens. She didn't do any rigorous testing just took my word for it.

If you want the name of the consultant pm me and I'll happily pass it on.

It seems so unfair that this is not taken seriously. It really does undermine a person's confidence - especially when one is at an age when the main skin concern should be wrinkles!

Effendi · 16/12/2018 14:02

Roaccutane after trying EVERYTHING.

I'm not in UK so had no problem getting at prescription from a private Dr.
I still had to have regular blood tests though.

Only had really dry lips and ears.

After suffering for years I only get an odd hormonal pimple now.

Troton · 16/12/2018 22:04

Can I ask - those of you who have used roaccutane what dose did you take and for how long? I’m in 20mg and my skin is still so so oily!

OP posts:
PookieDo · 16/12/2018 22:42

It will take a few weeks

PinMoo · 16/12/2018 22:47

Stopped drinking cows milk

JuniperBeer · 16/12/2018 23:05

Effaclar duo is good!

CatsMother66 · 16/12/2018 23:29

Eloise, was that me who told you about the zz cream? Sounds like it worked for you. I’ve recommended it so many times, so glad it worked x

Bottleup · 16/12/2018 23:54

The oil cleansing method is currently working well for me. I heard about it on here a few weeks ago. I've tried EVERYTHING! Two courses of roaccutane in my twenties and been on spironolactone for 8 years....

Troton · 17/12/2018 10:09

Effaclar duo was horrendous for me brought me out in loads of clogged pores and little spots on top of my usual cystic ones! Such a shame as I’ve heard loads of good things about it. Had a similar reaction to a moisturiser with salicylic acid in so wonder if it doesn’t agree with my skin.
Will look in to zz cream.
Tell me about oil cleansing method....what do you use and how do you do it?

OP posts:
Triskaidekaphilia · 17/12/2018 10:48

The things that have worked for me were a non-dairy diet (didn't stick to it) one of those red and blue light lamps (didn't stick to it) and no.7 foam cleanser, which I still use but think the new formula isn't as good. Panoxyl was also quite good- I don't think they make the higher strength cream anymore but there may be other brands. It dried out my less greasy bits pretty bad and bleached everything it touched though! I couldn't try roaccutane as was ttc for 18 months and before that was only using condoms for about 2 years, but my brother found it had a pretty minimal effect and went back to normal when he finished taking it. I'm hoping now I'm pregnant it might clear up a bit- it's mostly on my cheeks and chin now which I've heard is hormonal.

Bottleup · 17/12/2018 12:02

The oil cleansing method is defintely worth a try. It's cheap too so if it doesn't work for you, you haven't shelled out a fortune. Mix 2 thirds sunflower oil with 1 third castor oil. Massage a good scoopful all over and remove with a hot flannel. Leave the flannel on for a minute to open your pores. Afterwards, dab on a bit of sunflower oil to moisturize. Sounds nuts but its really helping me. My very honest 7 year old asked the other day "where have all your spots gone". Best of luck. Acne has been the bane of my life.

Yawnyprawn · 17/12/2018 17:56

Had acne from 11 to 30. Finally asked for referral to specialist, he gave me a cream called epiduo. Acne got a bit worse then radically better. I am now off all treatments and have hardly any spots, though this might be because i am breastfeeding. I would recommend epiduo to anyone. Best of luck!

FishesaPlenty · 17/12/2018 18:01

Not read the whole thread but DAIRY FAT.

A single 'olde-fashioned dairy ice cream' or switching from skimmed to semi-skimmed will still give me a full face of boils. I'm in my fifties!

Goabroad77 · 17/12/2018 18:03

Agree with the oil based cleanser and hot cloth- Ultrabland from Lush helps me. After having various things on prescription including Retin A which helped a bit.

Goabroad77 · 17/12/2018 18:04

Sunlight think is helpful too, mine is better in Spring and summer

PookieDo · 17/12/2018 18:14

People who have severe and chronic acne have repeatedly reported diet and fad products/crazy routines don’t help them. In fact it can really damage the skin and make things a lot worse. Usually by the time you get to see a dermatologist you are totally desperate having tried all these useless things

I’ve spent much time with dermatologists over the years dealing with my acne and not one of them has ever recommended any of these suggestions even when I have asked for non medication methods. I asked one about the dairy link, he just looked at me and said ‘it’s a myth’.

Clean your face but not too much, non comidogenic products, clean pillows and a reasonable normal diet. Topical treatments and oral medications. It’s usually hormonal or bacterial. So if you managed to clear it up easily it was bacterial. If you can’t then it’s probably androgen related (excessive oil production which blocks all your pores)

PookieDo · 17/12/2018 18:24

@Bottleup

Sorry but if you are on spiro then I doubt it’s this weird oil cleansing that helps. It’s the androgen blocker!

In what world does it make any sense to cover your skin in oil?! Oil on oil? How does oil equal out oil?
This website gives literally NO credibility to this method whatsoever. It’s just a fad!
theoilcleansingmethod.com/why-cleanse-with-oil/ and neither do any of the other ones I googled who are surprise surprise, all just by beauty bloggers onto the next fad. I can’t find any credible sources for this method - please share if anyone has this medically certified!

Wonkypalmtree · 17/12/2018 18:27

Stopped taking the pill, soap and water to wash, very light serum rather than moisturiser and a powder foundation, (bate minerals) every day.

OlennasWimple · 17/12/2018 18:31

Another one here for whom spirolactone plus clindamycine gel has been the only thing that has worked. It's like a miracle drug for me - two days after starting it I saw a marked difference

loopyloo12 · 17/12/2018 18:34

There's a lady on Instagram called Flawless faces I think she may have a website aswell she sells these peels you have to start with the 10% and use it once a week but they work so well her website is ffskin.co.uk hope this helps

ShovingLeopard · 18/12/2018 01:33

PookieDo my acne cleared up with oil cleansing alone. Had it from 10 until late thirties, nothing worked for more than a short time, and my face relentlessly pumped out ridiculous amounts of oil. All the antibiotic treatments only worked for a short time, and most of the topical treatments were hideously drying, resulting in a a red, sore face (still with spots - a double whammy!) that subsequently caused my skin to ramp up the oil production even more.

Within two weeks of oil cleansing, my face was clear. The theory is that the larger molecule of oil attract the smaller sebum molecules and remove them, without drying the skin and then causing it to increase oil production even more, thus causing more acne, etc.

I don't care if there is no scientific evidence for it, it works for me where the medical treatments (presumably with evidence in their favour?) did not. And it's as cheap as chips, and doesn't cause side effects such as redness and peeling, which frankly are often as bad as the acne itself.

It may just be that no studies have been done, rather than studies have shown it to be ineffective. In any case, with any medical treatment, at an individual level there will be some it works for and some it doesn't, regardless of the overall, population-level efficacy figures in the research studies. Looking for evidence-based treatments is the best place to start, but limiting yourself only to what has been studied can result in missing out on effective treatments. This is particularly true with acne, where we still don't have treatments that are effective without major side effects.

wohmum · 18/12/2018 01:43

I’ve had bad post menopausal spots for a few weeks now and have found that sudocrem works like a dream!
Obv only use it at night though 😀

PookieDo · 18/12/2018 07:40

@ShovingLeopard

While I am glad it worked for you I think it is another unproven fad like putting honey on your face that could cause a lot more harm than good to people with severe skin conditions but be great for people who are brave enough to try it on a mild skin condition. If you have painful acne that is damaging your skin with any kind of scarring you should get medical advice. There is not enough treatment on the NHS for the damage caused by acne like fillers or dermabrasion (for people who get pits). I think there is a vast difference between the acne we are talking about - if it cleared up in 2 weeks with oil cleansing then this unlikely to be the deep cystic acne a lot of women are talking about here. This kind of acne forms very deeply in the lower layers of the skin, damages and stretches all the pores underneath (creating mega pores) and can’t be squeezed or treated with surface topicals effectively. Each period cycle creates a cyst inside a cyst, never properly healing. If you have cured cystic acne with oil cleansing then perhaps you should offer yourself up for a clinical trial. I’ve been looking at this method online and seen many derms advising against it. Bad idea

juliastone · 21/12/2018 23:38

Google fungal acne beautifulwithbrains or simpleskincare science, perhaps you recognize some symptoms... My pimples and rashes were always triggered by moisurizers, cleansers, even some micellar water.. to cut the long story short, there are some ingredients that the yiest feed on (and then multiply) and some that they can't metabolize. So a few treatments of washing the face with head and shoulders classic shampoo to kill the fungus, and using only fungal acne safe skincare (wash with cetaphil or avene tolerance extreme cleanser, but NOT with toleriane dermo-cleanser for example), moisturize with vichy 89, avene tolerance extreme emulsion (not the cream), etc.. there is a list of safe products if you look it up.. but the idea is to reduce the yiest to its natural normal number (they are a part of healthy skin). The shampoo is drying but it works..

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